Seattlehttp://www.newgeography.com/category/blog-topics/seattle
The taxonomy view with a depth of 0.enSeattle, Denver & Portland: Slowing Growth Rates & Convergencehttp://www.newgeography.com/content/002073-seattle-denver-portland-slowing-growth-rates-convergence
<p>Just released 2010 Census data indicates that the growth rates of the Seattle, Denver and Portland metropolitan areas fell significantly in the 2000s compared to the 1990s.</p>
<p><strong>Seattle: </strong>Seattle metropolitan area population growth fell to 13 percent in the 2000s compared to 19 percent in the 1990s. The metropolitan area population in 2010 was 3,439,000, up from 3,041,000 in 2000. The historical core municipality of Seattle grew eight percent between 2000 and 2010 (from 563,000 to 608,000), while the suburbs grew 14 percent. The suburbs attracted 89 percent of the metropolitan population growth.</p>
<p><strong>Denver: </strong>The Denver metropolitan area experienced a decline in growth rate from 32 percent to 17 percent, while the population increased from 2,179,000 to 2,543,000. The historical core municipality of Denver grew eight percent, from 554,000 to 600,000. The suburbs grew 20 percent and accounted for 83 percent of the metropolitan area population growth.</p>
<p><strong>Portland: </strong>In the Portland Metropolitan area growth declined to 15 percent from 27 percent, with a population rising from 1,928,000 to 2,226,000. The historical core municipality of Portland grew 10 percent (from 529,002 583,000), while the suburbs gained 17 percent. The suburbs attracted 82 percent of the metropolitan population growth.</p>
<p><strong>Convergence: </strong>These slower population growth rates indicate a convergence with the growth rates achieved by middle American metropolitan areas for which data is available. Indianapolis grew 15 percent and Oklahoma City grew 14 percent, more than Seattle and slightly less than Denver and Portland.</p>
http://www.newgeography.com/content/002073-seattle-denver-portland-slowing-growth-rates-convergence#commentsCensus 2010demographicsDenverpopulationPortlandSeattleThu, 24 Feb 2011 00:16:25 -0500Wendell Cox2073 at http://www.newgeography.comNear-New Seattle Residential High-Rise Faces Demolitionhttp://www.newgeography.com/content/001579-near-new-seattle-residential-high-rise-faces-demolition
<p>Seattle's tony Belltown condo neighborhood <a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/001461-the-myth-strong-center" rel="nofollow">hardly needs more bad news</a>. Like many other similar areas in central city cores, the supply of new high rise condominiums has far outstripped the demand. Over the past year, the downtown area condominium market has experienced <a href="http://seattlecondosandlofts.com/2010/02/january-2010-condo-market-update" rel="nofollow">a median price decline of 35%</a>. Units in at least three downtown buildings have been auctioned off at prices from 30% to 50% below the latest, already discounted prices.</p>
<p>Yet things have gotten even worse. A 25 story apartment building, only 9 years old, will be demolished due to <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011609186_mcguire15.html" rel="nofollow">substandard construction</a>. Owners of the McGuire Apartments (<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wl6HOCVuO84/S5f1PsV-7AI/AAAAAAAADmk/CDlzJfvvPWo/s320/DSC01748.JPG" rel="nofollow">photo on web here</a>), Carpenters Union Local 131 and the Multi-Employer Property Trust issued a letter <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011609186_mcguire15.html" rel="nofollow">recently announced</a> saying that "Since the necessary repairs are impractical, the decision ... is to dismantle the building.” The letter also indicated that tenants would be assisted in finding new housing.</p>
<p>A local blogger (<a href="http://hideousbelltown.blogspot.com" / rel="nofollow">Hideous Belltown</a>) has provided a more than one-year long chronicle of the building, since scaffolding was erected, and concluding with two "<a href="http://hideousbelltown.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20McGuire" rel="nofollow">death-watch</a>" entries. </p>
<p>The Seattle tower may be the newest and tallest building to ever be demolished, especially in the United States.</p>
http://www.newgeography.com/content/001579-near-new-seattle-residential-high-rise-faces-demolition#commentscondosSeattleUrban IssuesFri, 21 May 2010 12:36:42 -0400Wendell Cox1579 at http://www.newgeography.comThe Downtown Seattle Jobs Rush to the Suburbshttp://www.newgeography.com/content/001518-the-downtown-seattle-jobs-rush-suburbs
<p>There are few downtown areas in the nation that are more attractive than Seattle. Downtown Seattle is a dream of spontaneous order and a fascinating place well worth exploring. It is one of the nation's great walkable downtown areas, with a mixture of older and newer buildings, hills,<em> Ivars Acres of Clams</em> and the <em>Chief Seattle</em> fire boat on Elliot Bay, Pioneer Square, the<em> Pike Place Market</em> (itself the home of the first <em>Starbuck's</em> coffee) and a hyper-dense 100,000 jobs per square mile. </p>
<p>Downtown boasts the L. C. Smith Tower, which from 1914 to 1966 was the tallest office tower in the west, at 42 floors and nearly 500 feet. Now Smith Tower ranks no better than 35th tallest downtown. Seattle has built so aggressively that a visitor to the observation deck would see more looking up than down. Smith Tower is dwarfed by a skyline containing some of the nation's most impressive office architecture, such as Columbia Center and the Washington Mutual Building, which was named for the subprime mortgage lending champion. </p>
<p>Downtown has many more historic landmarks, such as the Olympic Hotel and the Washington Athletic Club. The art-deco Northern Life Tower was the second tallest until the building boom of the 1960s and would have been the pride of more downtown areas than not. The 1970s Henry M. (Scoop) Jackson federal building is a rare gem of its age, while the Rainier Bank Building is perched on a tapered base that begs the question as to whether it will collapse before the Alaskan Way Viaduct in the great Cascadian subduction zone earthquake (which is due to strike sometime between now and the end of time).</p>
<p><strong>The Condominium Bust: </strong> Downtown Seattle has experienced one of the nation's strongest central city condominium booms, though its success (and that of others) has long been drowned out by the high pitched chorus of the Portland missionary society. As in Portland, Atlanta, San Diego, Los Angeles and other newly resurgent downtown areas, Seattle's condominium boom is now a bust as resembling that of a subprime-baby remote desert exurb halfway between San Bernardino and Las Vegas. Even so, the condominium neighborhoods of downtown Seattle are more attractive than what they replaced. Eventually, the large inventory of empty units will be sold or converted into rental units.</p>
<p><strong>The Office Bust: </strong> Downtown's condominium bust has spread to its office market as well. The vacancy rate is now over 20%. </p>
<p><strong>The Employment Bust: </strong> Data from the Puget Sound Regional Council of Governments (PSRG) indicates the depth of the problem. From 2000 to 2009, employment in the downtown core declined more than 12%, with a loss of 20,000 jobs. But it would be a mistake to conclude that downtown Seattle's employment decline stems from the Great Recession. The losses occurred before. In 2007, the last year before the recession, employment had fallen nearly 18,000 from 2000.</p>
<p>Downtown Seattle's employment decline mirrors trends around the nation and around the world. Now, downtown Seattle accounts for only 8.4% of employment in the four county area, something that would surprise an airline passenger looking at its verticalness from above.</p>
<p>The balance of the city of Seattle has done somewhat better, having lost 3% of its employment since 2000.</p>
<p><strong>Suburban Job Ascendancy: </strong> All of the employment growth in the Seattle area has been in the suburbs. While the city, including downtown, was losing nearly 30,000 jobs, the suburbs of King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties added 90,000 jobs (Table). Suburban Redmond, home of Microsoft, added 19,000 jobs all by itself. Even Tacoma, the old second central city and long since defeated challenger to Seattle added a modest number of jobs between 2000 and 2009.</p>
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<col width="133" /><br />
<col width="90" span="2" /><br />
<col width="76" /><br />
<col width="71" /></p>
<tr height="17">
<td height="17" colspan="3" align="left" width="313">EMPLOYMENT IN THE SEATTLE AREA: 2000-2009</td>
<td width="76"></td>
<td width="71"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17">
<td height="17"></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17">
<td height="17" align="left">Area</td>
<td>2000</td>
<td>2009</td>
<td>Change</td>
<td align="left">% Change</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17">
<td height="17" align="left">Downtown</td>
<td align="left"> 164,255 </td>
<td align="left"> 143,952 </td>
<td align="left"> (20,303)</td>
<td align="right">-12.4%</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17">
<td height="17" align="left">Balance: Downtown</td>
<td align="left"> 338,580 </td>
<td align="left"> 329,182 </td>
<td align="left"> (9,398)</td>
<td align="right">-2.8%</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17">
<td height="17" align="left">Balance: King County</td>
<td align="left"> 646,807 </td>
<td align="left"> 662,470 </td>
<td align="left"> 15,663 </td>
<td align="right">2.4%</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17">
<td height="17" align="left">Kitsap County</td>
<td align="left"> 70,854 </td>
<td align="left"> 81,617 </td>
<td align="left"> 10,763 </td>
<td align="right">15.2%</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17">
<td height="17" align="left">Pierce County</td>
<td align="left"> 234,619 </td>
<td align="left"> 264,402 </td>
<td align="left"> 29,783 </td>
<td align="right">12.7%</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17">
<td height="17" align="left">Snohomish County</td>
<td align="left"> 207,764 </td>
<td align="left"> 241,569 </td>
<td align="left"> 33,805 </td>
<td align="right">16.3%</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17">
<td height="17" align="left">4-County Area</td>
<td align="left"> 1,662,879 </td>
<td align="left"> 1,723,192 </td>
<td align="left"> 60,313 </td>
<td align="right">3.6%</td>
</tr>
<tr height="23">
<td height="23" colspan="5" align="left">Compiled from Puget Sound Regional Council of Governments data.</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><br><br></p>
<p><strong>If You Built it, They Must be Going: </strong> With these trends, it might be expected that local transportation agencies would be rushing to provide sufficient infrastructure to the growing suburbs. Not so. Planners are scurrying about to build one of the nation's most expensive light rail systems with lines converging on downtown, to feed 20,000 fewer jobs today and perhaps 30,000 or 40,000 fewer in the future. Perhaps this is the train "got a whole city moving again" as the television commercials put it? </p>
<p>What about growing Redmond? It's on the map. The line is scheduled to reach Redmond sometime between now and the end of time. </p>
http://www.newgeography.com/content/001518-the-downtown-seattle-jobs-rush-suburbs#commentsdowntownemploymentSeattlesuburbsTue, 20 Apr 2010 23:26:29 -0400Wendell Cox1518 at http://www.newgeography.com